Software packages are available to manage network connections, such as offering options for packet filtering, network address translation, and port translation. Such functions direct packets through a network and provide an ability to prohibit packets from being delivered to unauthorized locations.
Such software packages can also provide packet (network connection) tracking ability. For example, packet (network connection) state information can be tracked in order to analyze if a next received packet complies with the state of a network connection. If not, the packet can be dropped. Otherwise, the packet can be forwarded. Packet tracking can also include having timers that timeout if a packet has not been received for more than a predetermined period of time. With potentially millions of connections being tracked, monitoring a large number of timers can be difficult and requires extensive system resources, which can result in slowing packet throughput. An example of such a software package is Netfilter.